Housing Choice Voucher Program: Inspection Services

The HACC conducts several types of inspections to enforce Housing Quality Standards (HQS), a set of standards defined by HUD requiring the unit be decent, safe and sanitary:

Initial move inspections – Each unit must meet HQS before the tenant can move in and before a HAP contract can begin. All utilities must be on and fully functional at this inspection. The HACC will require a copy of the certificate of occupancy or rental permit that is required in some municipalities.

Annual inspections – Each unit must pass HQS annually to continue to ensure units are still decent, safe and sanitary. Units that fail an annual inspection must have a self-certification that repairs were made or pass a reinspection. If the unit fails the reinspection, the Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) will be abated.

Self-certification – is available when there are ten (10) or less non life threatening deficiencies. The tenant and landlord must sign the self-certification form and submit it within 21 days of the failed inspection. If the form is not submitted within 21 days, the HAP will be abated and a reinspection of the unit will be required to ensure that repairs were completed. False self-certifications may lead to the landlord being banned from participation in the program.

Complaint/Emergency inspections – The HACC may conduct an inspection upon request to verify conditions of a unit when a tenant has shown that a landlord is not responsive to requests for repairs or when life-threatening conditions exist – such as no water, no gas, no electricity, no working toilet, conditions that pose a threat to safety and similar conditions. In the case of life-threatening conditions, the HACC will reinspect the unit within 24 hours. If repairs are not made within 24 hours, HAP will be abated.

Quality Control inspections – The HACC performs Quality Control Inspections periodically to assess the performance of the inspector and to ensure that self-certified repairs were made. Quality Control Inspections usually occur within 30 days of the prior inspection. Timetables for repairing violations cited during a Quality Control Inspection depend upon the specific type of deficiency.

Lead Paint

Owners of properties built before January 1, 1978 that are cited for chipping, cracking, and peeling paint and that have a child under 6 years old that is residing or will reside in the unit must meet the following requirements prior to passing the HQS Inspection:

The owner must provide a passed lead clearance test within 30 days from the annual inspection or 10 days from the initial move inspection

The owner must provide proof the repairs were completed by a certified lead abatement contractor.